11th Jul 2001, 23:04

Mine was junk, too. And those seats! Who were they designed for- Quasimodo?

21st Sep 2001, 14:13

I also have a '93 and I'm not too happy with it. I am having problems with the idle, the car is constantly "sputtering" and stalls out a lot. Now it even takes a while to speed up when I need to merge into traffic - I will NEVER buy this car again.

28th Sep 2001, 07:56

You pay penny's for a piece of junk and expect it to run like new. I bought one and it's the most reliable thing next to my Porsche.

9th Dec 2001, 20:09

These cars are junk!!! Especially those with the 2.3 liter 4 cylinder. Try 3 automatic transmissions in the first 36,000 miles. And an engine rebuild, to boot.

14th Oct 2002, 14:29

1 year off the new car lot my Topaz 88 LTS (that's top of the line "sports" version) developed all sorts of problems, weekly!!!

I still have it, but it was the last FORD vehicle I would buy.

The Problems are too numerous to list.

But interior is quiet, plush with fake wood, futuristic controls and awesome racing seats!

The car still runs, but stoles and has nor rattles or squeaks and all the power items work (windows, seats, sunroof), I maintained this beast myself. If you do not have a day a week to dedicated to keeping life support on this piece of junk DO NOT GET IT!

12th Feb 2003, 15:57

I agree that compared to most other cars of this age the topaz/tempo are crap to drive, but they are also dirt cheap to buy, cheap to fix, good on gas and the engines run forever. Not many cars can claim that. You would spend 4x as much for a similar civic hatch.

19th Feb 2003, 14:41

Based on all of the above comments, I am not sure if I should buy my daughter a 1992 Mercury Topaz. I was hoping to find a reliable car that would last at least until college - one year and then resell it. I have the opportunity to buy this car. The price seemed right. $2850. (66,000 miles) Any opinions?

22nd Mar 2003, 02:38

$2,850 for a Topaz with 66,000 miles? Get it. They really aren't that bad if taken care of properly. People who drive them like sports cars (lead foot acceleration...) will find the need to fix them more often.

Three transmission replacements in 36,000 miles?! That sounds like abuse, not normal use.

25th Mar 2003, 10:31

I have a 1993 Topaz and have had nothing but problems with it. I spend about $1000 every year just to keep it running. I have constant starting, stalling and fast idling problems. The door locks don"t work, very poor quality over all. Anyone who thinks a Topaz is a good car has never owned a good car. Don't waste your money, try a Honda, it's 10 times the car.

27th May 2003, 20:51

I have a chance to buy a 93 Mercury Topaz with 23,000 miles from a little old lady that treated it with tender loving care, but after reading some of your commits, I'm turned off!!

I thought I was getting a good car, now I don't know what to think.

4th Jun 2003, 05:40

I have a 92 Topaz with 62K on it... It has never given me a lick of trouble, always runs and runs great with no rust... and I'm in Maine! The only trouble I have ever had started Monday night. I turned the key and had it in drive before all cylinders had fired up. At the first stop sign, the engine surged up and down from 400RPM to 1500RPM. I limped home, and the next morning it was fine. Tuesday night I erred and did the same thing, but today, Wednesday it has not recovered. Any one seen this trouble before?

20th Sep 2003, 14:45

I am thinking of buying a 1988 Mercury Topaz, but I am not sure about it now. I have seen just as many positive remarks and I have seen negative. Can someone give me a non-partial review of this car? Just tell me the straight facts.

9th Mar 2004, 19:02

First of all, why don't all you folks actually write a review instead of using this guys review??? Second, dude ya bought a USED car with 99k, especially American. You should have know better, buy Japanese over 99K not US (Don't be too quick to get on me, I have a 98 COBRA in the garage right now, along with my Escape. Sorry to hear about the problems, but you should have taken the car to your mechanic.

17th Mar 2004, 08:10

I own a '92 Mercury Topaz that I purchased new. It now has 180,000mi on it and is still running like a champ. It still has great gas mileage and while it is no corvette, it does get on the expressway with no trouble what-so-ever. I love this car, and it is one of the best cars I have ever owned.

Except for when my wife was hit by a drunk driver (and the car was a month old!), it has never been in the shop for anything except routine maintenance. I only had to replace items you would expect. i.e.: exhaust, tires, brakes, etc..

I also find the car very comfortable to drive. I do have to admit though that I have yet to get use to the automatic seat belts!

7th Apr 2004, 12:29

I agree with the guy. My mom's 1993 Topaz is a piece of crap. To make it worse I'm a girl with a lead foot and its hard on my mom because I do have a lead foot. I can't help it. Anyways, first it stalls when its real hot out. I'm still trying to figure that out. Some said it was the coil burned out or something. Anyways, I hope we get rid of it soon. Should I stop being a lead foot on this car? Would that help get rid of the stalling? When my mom drives, its fine... though she does drive like an old lady.

27th Jul 2004, 14:33

Hi.

We have a 93 4cyl topaz. It has over 200 000km. The last 6 months have been crazy. Too many repairs and yet still have the same problem, stalling, it doesn't matter if we are going 100 km per hour or 50 km per hour. We have gone to our mechanic and had pfc valve I think it's called also put coolant sensor and module on or in the distributor. Still it does not run well. It does act up worse on hot days. If we could just fix this problem it wouldn't be so bad. I expect maintenance on an older car.

Any advice on what the problem is? I would appreciate it.

5th Dec 2004, 18:52

I drove a 93 Topaz for a few years while I was a poor college student and it was the biggest pile of junk which drove me nowhere, but into deeper debt. Before the car even had 75,000 miles on it it I had to replace the following...

Mass Airflow Sensor.

Crankshaft Pulley (labor intensive)

Automatic seatbelt mechanism (twice)

Engine mounts.

Transmission.

Coolant tank.

Ignition (to name a few)

The car was costing me so much monthly to keep it running that I was better off making payments on a newer car. I sold the car for very cheap because they obviously keep no resale value. The only positive comments I can make about the car is that it was comfortable to drive and pretty good on gas.

Think twice about buying one. There is a reason why you do not see many them out on the roads these days.